Wednesday, March 17, 2010

"SILWAN, EAST JERUSALEM, Mar 16, 2010 (IPS) - Three thousand heavily armed Israeli security service forces locked down large parts of the Old City of Jerusalem on Tuesday, as battalions of police fired rounds of tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets at Palestinian protesters in the occupied eastern part of the city. Nearly 40 Palestinians were wounded and treated at nearby hospitals, as 25 were arrested during intense clashes.....

Clashes took place in several areas of East Jerusalem, including Shu'afat refugee camp, Wadi Joz and Silwan. This comes on the heels of accelerated attacks by Israeli forces and Jewish settlers inside Silwan in particular, directed towards the community's youngest and most vulnerable population. Since January, at least 33 children from the area have been arrested, detained and interrogated by Israeli forces as home demolitions and settler takeovers continue apace.....

The Netanyahu administration, for its part, announced that it will not backpedal on its plans to continue settlement expansion in occupied East Jerusalem. "These policies of arresting and interrogating Palestinian children are meant to break the spirit of the child and their families," Hiyam Odeh says. "But we are a strong community. We will remain steadfast, and we will not leave our homes." "